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Israel
- Follow-up: Israel's vote count shows deadlock between the two blocs as Netanyahu and Eisenkot both claim the right to form a government
Israel held parliamentary elections on Tuesday, Oct 27, and counting continued on Wednesday. Reuters reported that exit polls by Kan 11 and Channel 13 gave each bloc 51 seats, while Channel 12 showed Netanyahu's bloc narrowly ahead by 52 to 49, all short of the 61 needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Netanyahu called for a 'strong right-wing national government' and said a government with Arab parties would be 'shameful', while Yashar party leader and former military chief of staff Eisenkot said voters had rejected Netanyahu and told him to quit politics. The Central Elections Committee put turnout at 77.7%, the highest since 1999, with about 5.7 million of some 7.3 million eligible voters casting ballots. On prediction market Polymarket, the implied chance of Netanyahu being the next prime minister rose from 26% to 46% in a day.
Oct 28, 2026 Afternoon - Follow-up: Israel election exit polls show no clear winner; anti-Netanyahu bloc leads with 52 seats, Likud stays largest party
Israel held parliamentary elections on Tuesday, Oct 27, with polls closing at 10pm local time. A Channel 12 exit poll projected 52 seats for the bloc of Jewish parties opposed to Netanyahu and 50 for Netanyahu's bloc, both short of the 61 needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Netanyahu's Likud was projected to win 24 seats and remain the largest party, while the Yashar party led by former military chief of staff Eisenkot was projected to win 22. Arab parties were projected to win 17-18 seats combined, up from 10 in the 2022 election. Turnout was 74.3% as of 8pm, against 70.63% in 2022; preliminary results are due on Wednesday and official results on Nov 4.
Oct 28, 2026 Morning - Follow-up: Israel votes in first election since Oct 7 attacks as Netanyahu touts Trump endorsement; reported clash with army chief over Iran order
Israel holds parliamentary elections on Tuesday, Oct 27, its first since the attacks of Oct 7, 2023, with tens of thousands of expatriates returning to vote. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on television on Oct 25 that Trump 'still has two years in office' and urged voters to back him, while Trump posted the same day 'vote for Bibi' and 'we must finish the job we started'; the two launched a war on Iran together in February. Israel's Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu and the chief of the general staff recently clashed over a military order that could immediately trigger conflict with Iran, with the chief demanding it in writing; Netanyahu denied the report.
Oct 27, 2026 Morning - Follow-up: Eisenkot holds final rally on eve of Israel's election as tens of thousands of expats fly home and Likud trails in polls
Israel holds its first parliamentary election since the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Tuesday, Oct 27. Former military chief of staff Eisenkot held his final rally on Sunday, stressing accountability for the war and social unity, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp kept the Iranian threat at the centre of its campaign and painted his rival as soft on Iran. Several polls show Likud trailing, tens of thousands of Israeli expats flew home to vote, and the military had announced it would close land crossings in the West Bank during the election.
Oct 26, 2026 Afternoon - Follow-up: Netanyahu posts AI image of nuclear blast over Tel Aviv before Tuesday's election, warning of a 'second Holocaust'
Israel's military said on Sunday, Oct 25, it will close all land crossings in the West Bank during the Oct 27 parliamentary election and bar Palestinian workers from settlements from that day, after two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack at a checkpoint. On the eve of the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted an AI image of a nuclear bomb exploding over Tel Aviv, warning of a 'second Holocaust' if he is not elected, while billionaire Trump donor Bill Ackman said far-right ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich should not be in the next government. Al Jazeera reported that two Israeli air strikes on students and guards at the Islamic University in Gaza City killed 3 people and injured at least 7.
Oct 26, 2026 Morning - Follow-up: Thousands rally in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu before Israeli election; army to seal West Bank on Tuesday voting day
After two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron on Friday, Oct 23, Israel launched a large operation in Hebron. Israel's defence minister confirmed that about 2,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes there; the BBC reported bulldozers flattened at least an entire street and the city of some 200,000 people was locked down. The Israeli military said on Sunday, Oct 25, that with political approval, on Tuesday, Oct 27 — election day — Palestinian workers would be barred from entering or leaving the West Bank and Jordan Valley, including industrial zones, and all land crossings would close. Separately, thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu, calling for a change of government and an independent inquiry into security failures in the Oct 7 attack.
Oct 25, 2026 Afternoon - Netanyahu says toppling Iran's government is the 'only way'; Iran says indirect ceasefire talks with US continue
CNA reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a campaign rally in the southern city of Dimona on Oct 21 that there is 'only one way' to end the Iranian threat, 'toppling this regime', and said he had instructed the military, Mossad and all security services accordingly, without saying when or how. CBS said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the same day that indirect talks continue on the 7-day ceasefire proposal Trump initially rejected last month, with the US seeking new terms; a senior Revolutionary Guards official threatened to target US 'investments' such as undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz if the US struck Iranian infrastructure again. UK Maritime Trade Operations said a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile and caught fire about 11 nautical miles off Bukha, Oman, on Wednesday; all crew were safe.
Oct 22, 2026 Morning - US Defense Secretary Hegseth holds unannounced meeting with Netanyahu; Vance declines endorsement
Axios, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's parliamentary election; the Pentagon and Israel's embassy in Washington declined to comment, and Reuters could not immediately verify. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday that Netanyahu was a 'great warrior prime minister' and gave his 'complete and total endorsement'; Vice President JD Vance said the same day he endorses only American candidates and is 'not anti-endorsing' and 'not pro-endorsing' Netanyahu. Polls suggest Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition may lose its governing majority.
Oct 20, 2026 Afternoon - Follow-up: EU condemns settler attack on diplomats' convoy; Netanyahu unveils security platform before election
On Oct 17 Israeli settlers attacked a European diplomats' convoy in the West Bank and assaulted a visiting French mayor. The EU External Action Service on Oct 18 'strongly condemned' the attack, demanded accountability, effective measures against violence toward Palestinians (including during the olive harvest) and journalists, and an end to settlement expansion; the New York Times reported US officials also condemned West Bank attacks. About a week before the Oct 27 election, Netanyahu released his first national security platform in about a decade, favouring pre-emptive strikes and wider buffer zones; the opposition called it 'shallow'. An Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation poll on Oct 18 showed Netanyahu's bloc down two seats versus an opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot. The same day, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was forced off stage by protesters at a Tel Aviv university event.
Oct 19, 2026 Afternoon